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Revolutionary Spain
Revolutionary Spain was a large region of the northeast of Spain that formed as a result of the Spanish Revolution during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. It is perhaps the most famous example of Anarchism in practice, and has inspired numerous generations of activists and Left-Libertarians. Decision-Making Anarchist assemblies and councils in many rural and industrial contexts made majority-vote decisions, governing themselves in the absence or defiance of State authority. Public Services The Barcelona’s Medical Syndicate managed 18 hospitals (6 of which it had created), 17 sanatoria, 22 clinics, 6 psychiatric establishments, 3 nurseries, and one maternity hospital. Outpatient departments were set up in all the principal localities in Catalunya. Upon receiving a request, the Syndicate sent doctors to places in need. The doctor would have to give good reason for refusing the post, “for it was considered that medicine was at the service of the community, and not the other way round.” Funds for outpatient clinics came from contributions from local municipalities. The anarchist Health Workers’ Union included 8,000 health workers, 1,020 of them doctors, and also 3,206 nurses, 133 dentists, 330 midwives, and 153 herbalists. The Union operated 36 health centers distributed throughout Catalunya to provide healthcare to everyone in the entire region. There was a central syndicate in each of nine zones, and in Barcelona a Control Committee composed of one delegate from each section met once a week to deal with common problems and implement a common plan. Every department was autonomous in its own sphere, but not isolated, as they supported one another. Beyond Catalunya, healthcare was provided for free in agrarian collectives throughout Aragon and the Levant.Gaston Leval (1975) Collectives in the Spanish Revolution Environmental Protections Upon forming agricultural cooperatives and communes, peasants used methods that were similar to permaculture, using multiple plants to increase yields and improve soil health, such as putting shade-tolerant plants under orange trees.Peter Gelderloos (2010) Anarchy Works Various metal factories were shut down after doctors discovered links between factory pollution and tuberculosis.Iain McKay (2009) Objectivity and Right-Libertarian Scholarship Daniel Guérin describes environmental protections further: After the Revolution the land was brought together into rational units, cultivated on a large scale and according to the general plan and directives of agronomists. The studies of agricultural technicians brought about yields 30 to 50 percent higher than before. The cultivated areas increased, human, animal, and mechanical energy was used in a more rational way, and working methods perfected. Crops were diversified, irrigation extended, reforestation initiated, and tree nurseries started. Piggeries were constructed, rural technical schools built, and demonstration farms set up, selective cattle breeding was developed, and auxiliary agricultural industries put into operation. Socialized agriculture showed itself superior on the one hand to large-scale absentee ownership, which left part of the land fallow; and on the other to small farms cultivated by primitive techniques, with poor seed and no fertilizers.Daniel Guérin (1970) Anarchism: From Theory to Practice Cultural Changes Upon entering Barcelona, George Orwell had this to say about the changing culture in the city: References